Lou Vairohttp://www.usahockeymagazine.com/taxonomy/term/1028/all
enBack To His Rootshttp://www.usahockeymagazine.com/article/back-his-roots
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Legendary Olympic Coach Lou Vairo Returns To The Bench To Coach Local Squirt Team </div>
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By:&nbsp;</div>
<a href="/author/justin-felisko">Justin Felisko</a> </div>
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<p><iframe width="518" height="291" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/6voQY8ZF0FI" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></p>
<p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">It had been nearly 10 years since U.S. Olympic Men's Ice Hockey coach Lou Vairo stood behind the bench of a hockey team.</span></p>
<p>The experienced-laden coach entered the Sertich Ice Center in Colorado Springs on Jan.19 and began to look around at the bustling scene in front of him.</p>
<p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">This was not an NHL arena or Sarajevo, Yugoslavia, site of the 1984 Olympic Winter Games, that Vairo had been so accustomed to coaching in over the years. &nbsp;</span></p>
<p>Sticks, pucks, pads and jerseys were scattered across the ice center with rampant children craving to rush out onto the ice. Concerned parents intently tried to help their kids lace up their skates minutes before Team Black of the Colorado Springs Amateur Hockey Association took the ice for warm ups.</p>
<p>The 67-year-old, wearing a Navy blue USA Hockey jacket and matching Dickies work pants, slowly approached the spot on the team's bench he would call home for the next three periods. A small smile crept across his face as he watched the 9- and 10-year-olds circling the ice during warm ups.</p>
<p>"I used to do this for a living," Vairo laughed. "The [New Jersey] Devils, national teams, in Italy."</p>
<p>Vairo, USA Hockey's director of special projects, decided to return to the bench to help out after coaches Matt Leaf, director of USA Hockey's officiating education program, and Casey Jorgensen, USA Hockey's general counsel, were both out of town on company business.</p>
<p>"The most important thing is to build a love and passion for the game," Vairo said. "They all need a chance to play even if they are the worst on the team. Everything else will come later in life."</p>
<p>Instead of being a thunderous Olympic-style coach or an intimidating presence on the bench, Vairo kept his distance and let parent Bryan Hollon handle the majority of the coaching while sprinkling in his own advice to players when the time was right.</p>
<p>"Lou is a very significant individual in USA Hockey," Hollon said. "To have him there and to impart some of his knowledge and to encourage the kids is inspiring.</p>
<p>"I just kind of look at the guy and go 'Holy Mackerel' at the amount of knowledge this guys has, and yet it's not like he is talking to a bunch of Olympic players. He is talking to 9- and 10-year-old kids and that's where he brings it. He brings it down to that level and talks to them and gets them motivated."</p>
<p><span class="inline inline-none"><img src="http://www.usahockeymagazine.com/sites/default/files/images/Video_191_0_00_26-07.preview.jpg" alt="Lou Vairo helps out during a youth hockey game on Jan. 19 in Colorado Springs, Colo. Justin Felisko/USA Hockey Magazine" title="Lou Vairo helps out during a youth hockey game on Jan. 19 in Colorado Springs, Colo. Justin Felisko/USA Hockey Magazine" class="image image-preview " width="525" height="296" /><span class="caption" style="width: 523px;">Lou Vairo helps out during a youth hockey game on Jan. 19 in Colorado Springs, Colo. Justin Felisko/USA Hockey Magazine</span></span></p>
<p>Vairo's advice was simple but important for the young hockey players.</p>
<p>"Always respect the officials," Vairo said on more than one occasion. "They make mistakes, you make mistakes, coaches make mistakes. Just always give your best."</p>
<p>Vairo did address the team following the second period, crediting them for their effort and grit that eventually led to a 5-3 victory, but his biggest impact came when he would pull a player aside or when he would offer a fist pound to the players skating back to the bench.</p>
<p>"Use the boards there as an extra man," Vairo said. "Play the puck off the boards to yourself if needed."</p>
<p>Vairo primarily wanted the kids to have a good time, and even he had some fun of his own when he playfully grabbed linesman Jonathan Valtin's jersey as he stood near the bench.</p>
<p>Ironically, none of the kids really know Vairo for his past success as a USA Hockey coach or about the immense knowledge that he has to offer. Instead, they will remember Vairo for the guy that brought a smile to the bench. &nbsp;</p>
<p>Regardless, Hollon believes Vairo still planted a seed of knowledge into the team, even if the kids did not know who he exactly was.</p>
<p>"I don't know if all of our kids have the awareness of who he is, but nonetheless there is something about Lou, the way he is, that he inspires the kids," Hollon said. "They might not be conscious of it, but subconsciously they [knew] they [were] getting great information and encouragement."</p>
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http://www.usahockeymagazine.com/article/back-his-roots#commentscoachingColoradoIIHFLou VairoOlympicsyouth hockeyOnline Bonus ContentFri, 25 Jan 2013 17:20:38 +0000jfelisko8069 at http://www.usahockeymagazine.comDiaper Line Rides Againhttp://www.usahockeymagazine.com/article/diaper-line-rides-again
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Storied Line Reunites As One Of Their Own Enters Hall Of Fame </div>
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By:&nbsp;</div>
<a href="/node/12">Harry Thompson</a> </div>
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<p><strong><span class="inline inline-none"><img src="http://www.usahockeymagazine.com/sites/default/files/images/1984_team.preview.jpg" alt="Lou Vairo, head coach of the 1984 U.S. Olympic Team, is surrounded by members of the Diaper Line, including Ed Olczyk (right), Pat Lafontaine (bottom right), David A. Jensen (bottom left) and defenseman Al Iafrate." title="Lou Vairo, head coach of the 1984 U.S. Olympic Team, is surrounded by members of the Diaper Line, including Ed Olczyk (right), Pat Lafontaine (bottom right), David A. Jensen (bottom left) and defenseman Al Iafrate." class="image image-preview " width="525" height="425" /><span class="caption" style="width: 523px;">Lou Vairo, head coach of the 1984 U.S. Olympic Team, is surrounded by members of the Diaper Line, including Ed Olczyk (right), Pat Lafontaine (bottom right), David A. Jensen (bottom left) and defenseman Al Iafrate.</span></span></strong></p>
<p>When it comes to championing the cause of the American player, no one has done more or done it better than Lou Vairo. So when he calls them &ldquo;one of the great lines in U.S. hockey history,&rdquo; people tend to listen.</p>
<p>Eddie Olczyk, Pat Lafontaine and Dave A. Jensen were as talented a trio to ever wear the red, white and blue. They came together before the ink had dried on their high school diplomas, starry-eyed dreamers who were looking to produce another Olympic miracle on international ice.&nbsp; </p>
<p>While the 1984 U.S. Olympic Team came up short of its golden goal, the trio did not disappoint, not in Sarajevo, Yugoslavia or in what came after. All three went on to professional hockey careers and earned more than their share of accolades along the way. </p>
<p><span class="inline inline-right"><img src="http://www.usahockeymagazine.com/sites/default/files/images/Diaper_Line_5.img_assist_custom-280x228.jpg" alt="" title="" class="image image-img_assist_custom-280x228 " width="280" height="228" /></span>And now, almost 30 years after they were last together as a group, the trio reunited in Dallas as Olczyk realized a lifelong dream when he was inducted into the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame.</p>
<p>&ldquo;It was no doubt one of the best lines that I&rsquo;ve ever played on,&rdquo; said Olczyk, who played 16 seasons in the NHL.</p>
<p>&ldquo;It&rsquo;s just very special night and I couldn&rsquo;t be more proud to share it with a lot of people.&rdquo;</p>
<p>Following the success of the 1980 U.S. Olympic Team, a new wave of American players was suddenly catching the eye of NHL teams. Many were drafted and signed to pro contracts, leaving them out of the Olympic mix for the 1984 Olympic Winter Games.</p>
<p>That forced Vairo and his coaching staff to dip event deeper into the well for players. What he ultimately discovered was the fountain of youth in the form of three players who were wise beyond their years when it came to their play on the ice. </p>
<p>&ldquo;They were three extremely smart hockey players, three of the smartest kids &mdash; hockey players with hockey sense &mdash; that I&rsquo;ve ever coached,&rdquo; Vairo said of the &ldquo;Diaper Line,&rdquo; the nickname he labeled the trio with because of their age.</p>
<p>The trio played way beyond their years, leading the team in scoring during the pre-Olympic tour and accounting for more than half of Team USA&rsquo;s goals in Sarajevo.</p>
<p>&ldquo;I remember that we were called the kid line until some of the guys in the locker room had some fun with it and then we somehow became the diaper line,&rdquo; said LaFontaine.</p>
<p>&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t know if there&rsquo;s ever been a coined name for a line in USA Hockey history so I think we might be the one and only.&rdquo;</p>
<p>No matter what you called them, there was no question as to the Diaper Line&rsquo;s ability. Olczyk, the youngest player on the team, was six weeks shy of his 17th birthday when the final roster was announced on July 4, 1983. There was no threat of losing the Chicago native to the pros &mdash; he wasn&rsquo;t even eligible for the NHL Entry Draft.</p>
<p><strong><span class="inline inline-left"><img src="http://www.usahockeymagazine.com/sites/default/files/images/Lafontaine.img_assist_custom-280x240.jpg" alt="Pat Lafontaine went on to a long and illustrious career in the NHL and was inducted into the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame in 2003." title="Pat Lafontaine went on to a long and illustrious career in the NHL and was inducted into the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame in 2003." class="image image-img_assist_custom-280x240 " width="280" height="240" /><span class="caption" style="width: 278px;">Pat Lafontaine went on to a long and illustrious career in the NHL and was inducted into the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame in 2003.</span></span></strong>Jensen was in between his junior and senior year at Lawrence Academy, a private high school in Massachusetts, and was selected No. 20 overall by the Hartford Whalers in the 1983 draft.</p>
<p>LaFontaine was the seasoned veteran of the bunch at age 18. Coming off a banner year in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League where he broke a multitude of scoring records, the third overall pick of the New York Islanders was perhaps the top player on the team.</p>
<p>&ldquo;Pat was always a major focal point of the other teams and a dynamic player, not only as a Major Junior player but Olympic player as well,&rdquo; said Olczyk, who faced off against LaFontaine, a native of Michigan, several times throughout their youth playing days.</p>
<p>The youngest of all skaters, Olczyk recalled how he had never faced off against international competition before first donning a USA jersey.</p>
<p>&ldquo;Coach Vairo took a chance on me, being only 16 years old when the team was picked,&rdquo; Olczyk recalled. &ldquo;He instilled a lot of confidence in me and he did not care what people thought.&rdquo;</p>
<p>From the outset, Vairo knew he had captured lightning in a bottle. The wide-open, up-tempo style of hockey that Vairo promoted was perfectly suited to the young players&rsquo; individual and collective skills.</p>
<p>With the speed and playmaking abilities that Jensen and LaFontaine brought to the table, the big-bodied Olczyk was the perfect fit for the line that provided a much-needed spark for Team USA.</p>
<p>&ldquo;It just kind of clicked. The chemistry of that line just took off and we just stuck together for the whole year,&rdquo; said Lafontaine, who was inducted into the U.S. Hall of Fame in 2003.</p>
<p><strong><span class="inline inline-right"><img src="http://www.usahockeymagazine.com/sites/default/files/images/DA_Jensen_1.img_assist_custom-280x245.jpg" alt="David A. Jensen was considered one of the fastest skaters on the 1984 U.S. Olympic Team." title="David A. Jensen was considered one of the fastest skaters on the 1984 U.S. Olympic Team." class="image image-img_assist_custom-280x245 " width="280" height="245" /><span class="caption" style="width: 278px;">David A. Jensen was considered one of the fastest skaters on the 1984 U.S. Olympic Team.</span></span></strong>&ldquo;I give Lou a tremendous amount of credit for trying the three of us together because most coaches wouldn&rsquo;t have done that, take the three youngest players on the team and he did and it just clicked for us.&rdquo;</p>
<p>Hopes to relive the miracle may have been lost, but the opportunity to represent their country and how it shaped their careers is what the comrades of the Diaper Line cherish the most.</p>
<p>&ldquo;It&rsquo;s a special bond and relationship when you travel with kids for a year together. You grow up and you travel with them. We were high school kids,&rdquo; said Jensen, who is working with the NHL alumni on creating hockey camps and clinics. </p>
<p>&ldquo;It&rsquo;s something you&rsquo;ll never forget. I had some great relationships in pro hockey but that was the most special year of my life. That&rsquo;s why I&rsquo;m really honored and proud to be here tonight.&rdquo;</p>
<p>As Lafontaine added, &ldquo;It&rsquo;s just like old times only 28 years down the road.&rdquo;</p>
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http://www.usahockeymagazine.com/article/diaper-line-rides-again#commentsDavid A. JensenEddie OlczykLou VairoPat LaFontaineU.S. Hockey Hall of FameU.S. Olympic TeamOnline Bonus ContentThu, 18 Oct 2012 19:40:40 +0000harryt7515 at http://www.usahockeymagazine.com